


Complete

by EHyde



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Angst, F/M, hypothetical ending, split-soul theory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 13:02:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10719855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EHyde/pseuds/EHyde
Summary: "I am Yona," says Hiryuu, "and I am Su-won. We were always two halves of a whole."But Hak cannot believe that Yona was ever incomplete.





	Complete

Later, thousands would say they saw it happen. The king, standing on the battlefield, the red-haired girl fighting by his side. Then, in the blink of an eye—or a brief glance away, or the momentary obstruction of the crowd—there is only one: King Hiryuu, the crimson dragon of legend, uniting all of Kouka behind him as he leads his armies to victory.

Hak doesn’t see it, though he’s there in the thick of it. Or rather, protecting his red-haired king, looking to them for direction in the heat of battle, feels so natural that it’s only later, standing by Hiryuu’s side as the king accepts the surrender of the Kai Emperor, that Hak realizes there’s anything to question. Then he freezes.

“Hak,” says Hiryuu, turning back to face him, his melodious voice both familiar and oh, so wrong.

“You’re—”

“I am Yona,” says Hiryuu. “And I am Su-won. Don’t worry,” he says with a smile. “This is how things were always meant to be.”

* * *

“ _The red dragon will return at dawn,_ ” Yun recites. He glances at the sky. It’s high noon now, the bright sun beating down on the dusty road home. Hiryuu rides at the head of the army, his generals following close behind. His dragons should be near him, too—Zeno is right by his side— but the others stay back, a lonely group amongst the triumphant soldiers. “I didn’t know this would happen! Ik-su never said—” Hak doesn’t reply. He remembers what Su-won did to the princess. How can Hiryuu say this was always meant to be?

The dragons, too, are silent. Finally, Shin-ah speaks. “He’s…not Yona,” he says.

“But he’s Hiryuu,” says Kija. “To follow him is the greatest, the only desire of the dragons.” He looks like he’s trying to convince himself.

“This can’t be permanent,” says Yun. “Can it?”

* * *

Hiryuu smiles, and speaks to Hak as if they’ve always known each other, and Hak can’t look him in the eye. “Where is Yona?” he growls. “What did you do to her?”

“Hak,” Hiryuu says gently, “I told you. I am Yona. She and Su-won, we were always two halves of a whole.”

“Yona was never incomplete!” Many things had been incomplete. The kiss she left him with the last time they saw each other, the words he never gave her in response. But Yona was always everything she needed to be.

Hiryuu turns his gaze to the heavens. “Do you remember when the two of us looked up at the sky together?” he asks.

“No,” Hak says shortly, and storms away.

* * *

“I’m no happier about this than you are,” Ju-doh says.

“You knew it would happen.” The Sky general doesn’t deny it. “When you traded your second sword for a shield, you knew it would happen. Why didn’t you warn her?”

“Warn her?” He scoffs at the idea. “She was the one armed with prophecies and dragons. She was the one who turned up everywhere he went. Don’t try to tell me she didn’t understand their destiny.”

It’s pointless to argue, and Hak doesn’t care to try. “Then why didn’t you try to stop it?”

“He wouldn’t let me,” Ju-doh admits. “All he asked was that I help him make the best use of the time he had.”

* * *

These days, Ju-doh is no closer to the king than Hak. The dragons are the ones who stay by his side—all the dragons but Jae-ha. “I chose to follow a girl who doesn’t exist anymore,” is the last thing he says before he flies away, as soon as it becomes clear there’s no going back. Hiryuu lets him go with a sad smile on his face. Zeno clings to his king. Shin-ah seems to love him, but flinches whenever Hiryuu speaks his name. Kija has become stiff with duty.

The generals accept the return of King Hiryuu gladly, even the ones who were never believers before. Joon-gi pushes even harder for a match with his daughter, who is far more amenable to the idea than she once was. The day before their wedding, Hak leaves for Fuuga. He’s not coming back.

* * *

Two years later, Hak is visited by a yellow-haired young man who he almost doesn’t recognize as Zeno. He’s taller, and his hair is shorter, the angles of his face a little sharper. “Hiryuu came back for a reason,” he says. “Zeno thought mister might want to know.”

“…oh,” is all Hak can say to that.

“Zeno misses the miss, too,” Zeno admits. “But at least Zeno won’t be missing her for long.” For the tiniest instant, Hak hopes—and then he realizes that Zeno is referring to himself, and not to Yona.

“Zeno, are you—are you going to be alright?”

“Zeno’s going to go visit Ryokuryuu next!” the former yellow dragon replies, without answering Hak’s question.

* * *

The king is planning a visit to Fuuga. Hak doesn’t intend to be there, but at the last minute, he can’t bring himself to leave. He’s weak, and he wants, _oh_ how he wants to see that red hair again, those deep violet eyes, Yona’s eyes, even if he’ll never see Yona again. Hak stays back as the royal party arrives in the late morning—they’ve even brought the little princess with them—and there, he’s had his glimpse of Hiryuu, and that’s enough. That’s enough for a lifetime.

“Hak.”

He turns. Standing before him is Yona—older, a grown woman, but without a doubt, Yona. “Princess,” he says. “What—how—?”

“Look at the sky,” says Yona. Hak looks up. What he thought was just a cloud covering the sun is no cloud at all but a much darker shadow. The beginning of an eclipse. “ _Long, long ago, the red sun was eaten, and the world was dyed black_ ,” Yona recites. “We have until the light returns.”

“How often do solar eclipses happen?” Hak asks her.

“Yun says it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

“Then just tell me one thing. Is this what you want?”

She buries her face in his chest, tears staining his robes. “It’s not,” she says, gripping the stone on his necklace tight. “Hak, I just want my family back, I want you—” She pulls away from him and takes several deep breaths. “But it’s what Kouka needs. I made this choice, Hak.”

Hak pulls her close and wonders what will happen if he doesn’t let go.

* * *

When the light returns, she’s still there with him. Hak wonders if he dare hope. They return together to the main house at Fuuga, where Tae-wu greets Yona with confusion—and Lili greets her with open arms. “Yona, isn’t this longer than you expected?” Lili asks.

“It is,” says Yona. “Lili…where is Su-won?” But the other woman doesn’t know.

Two days they wait. Hak would like to never see Su-won again, but Yona is fraught with worry. The little princess doesn’t know what to make of the strange woman who looks so much like her father.

At dawn on the third day, Ju-doh rides to Fuuga. “Su-won isn’t coming back,” he says. “Not to Kouka, not in his lifetime.” He bows to Yona. “Your Majesty,” he says, “Su-won accepted where his path would lead. He never wanted that for you.”

“And you?” Hak asks.

“I’ll join him in exile,” says Ju-doh. “I only came back to deliver this message.”

Yona bows in return. “Thank you, General,” she says. She reaches for Hak’s hand.

“Princess,” Hak begins as they watch the former Sky general ride off into the distance. No, she’s not a princess anymore. “Yona,” he says, “Yona,” he repeats her name, “Yona.” She is Yona and only Yona, and that’s all she ever needs to be.

She looks up at him. “Hak,” she says, smiling. “Let’s go home.”


End file.
